Illusory World

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Illusory World
Type	pocket dimension
Game	Builders 2

The Illusory World is the name given to the main setting of Dragon Quest Builders 2, set in a different timeline from the events of the original Dragon Quest II.

History

Like in the original timeline of events, High Priest Hargon cast a powerful illusion on his Hall with the intent of tormenting the Scions of Erdrick. However, in this different course of events, when the heroes used the Eye of Rubiss to dispel the illusion, it instead completely separated itself from Torland, becoming an unstable pocket dimension that even survived, albeit barely, the death of its creator.

In time, the illusion expanded, creating new never-before-seen lands and copies of locations from the real world, becoming populated by more and more people and monsters who were not illusory copies of someone else, but their own individuals with families and friends, completely unaware of their true nature. What's more, the unstable nature of the illusion meant that at some point the pocket dimension would inevitably fade away, taking with it everyone of its people.

Following his demise in the outside world, what little had remained of Hargon managed to survive within the illusion, as a being lesser than a ghost but still mightily powerful. Swearing vengeance against Torland and the Scions, Hargon collected the remnants of the soul of his slain master, the God of Destruction Malroth, biding his time while nurturing it so that Malroth could recover his strength.

A key difference from the real world was that, being born from Hargon's twisted mind, in the illusory world his loyal adepts, the Children of Hargon, had never been defeated and as such had become the de-facto leaders of the world, coercing the people of the illusion to follow, or at least support, their twisted ideology under threat of dire repercussions, no matter how much misery it brought them. Not really caring about the fate of the illusion, fully aware of its time limit, Hargon let his Children freely torment its inhabitants, barely giving them any specific order while he himself concentrated on his own masterplan.

Being unstable in nature, sometimes portals leading to the illusion appeared across Torland, trapping inside any unlucky travelers. One such traveler, a builder, became aware that the people of the illusion lacked the notion of construction, and set out on a journey across the various islands, constructing marvels that made civilization flourish. After his death at the hands of the Scions, Hargon understood that in order for Malroth's power of destruction to grow, it needed to be exposed to its counterpart, the power of creation. As such, he eventually extended his powers back in the real world, and sank a slavery ship in order to drag a promising young builder into the illusion to use as a pawn, the ship itself belonging to the very last real world remnants of the Children of Hargon, essentially callously wiping them out personally.

Meeting with the newly re-born Malroth, who essentially was a very impressionable newborn, the Builder ironically was able to form a strong bond of friendship with him, and together the two began adventuring across the illusory world, eventually learning of its true nature and, contrary to any conceivable predictions from Hargon, directly clashing against the High Priest.

After the final battle, with the malevolent spirit of its creator Hargon snuffed out for good, and severely damaged by the rampage of the evil half of Malroth's soul, the illusion began to quickly fade away. Luckily, the good half of Malroth's soul sacrificed most of his freshly re-obtained godly powers and, together with the Builder, they were able to permanently stabilize the pocket dimension, making it real by all accounts.

Islands

• The Isle of Awakening, a deserted island beneath which Malroth was recuperating and, later, the home base of the Builder.
• Furrowfield, a once green and lush island full of trees and farm, it was reduced by the Children to a pile of rotten sludge.
• Khrumbul-Dun, a once ore-rich island full of miners. The mines were forced shut after the Children turned the ore to stone.
• Moonbrooke, a snowy, insular copy of the real kingdom of Moonbrooke. Its people were forced by the Children to fight a never-ending pointless and bloody war against them.
• Skelkatraz, a maximum-security prison operated by the Children, where anybody who severely defied their teachings was thrown to rot away and be "rehabilitated".
• Malhalla, a pocket dimension within the pocket dimension, said to be the ultimate promise land for the most faithful of the Children of Hargon.
• The Explorer's Shores, a series of uninhabited islands full of rare and precious materials.

Trivia

• The concept of an illusory copy of a real landscape, originally created by an evil entity, only for it to go on after its creator's demise and eventually becoming "real", first appeared in Version 2 of Dragon Quest X, where Maldragora created a false version of the continent of Rendacia.